cliff. meanwhile, president obama cut his hawaii vacation short to return to washington today. but has he been working on a deal? "outfront" tonight, reports from both ends of pennsylvania avenue. chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin, and senior congressional correspondent, dana bash. jessica, first, to you, the president's back in washington, wheels down. he left his christmas vacation early. but was this just a bit of showmanship, or has he been working on something specific? >> reporter: hey, john. well, today has been a bit of a quiet day here at the white house. publicly, the president has been scarce, no sign of him. behind closed doors, i'm told a few meetings internally, but mostly, relatively quiet. i expect we will see more from the president, perhaps we could even see him publicly tomorrow. perhaps he could even meet with or talk to some of the congressional leaders. the president's role in all of this, he can get each of the leaders to come closer on what the white hou